Hotstar of the Week: Pollstar : 23rd June 1997 Fun Lovin' Criminals would like to remind you to put the accent on the Fun Lovin' and remember that Criminals refers to their penchant for pilfering lick and rhythms from a variety of influences. Sure, they like to get crazy á la Marty Scorsese but the Criminals mix their bad-ass hooligan image with a real sense of irony. And they're not talking about rain on your wedding day.
"People take everything so literally," said frontman Huey, ('just Huey, like Madonna, you know?'). "That's kinda messed up because a lot of the time, things are not really what they seem."
So when Huey talks about whacking the band's manager if he's not straight with them, remember it's an appearance versus reality thing. It appears the three Fun Lovin' Criminals are
so cool they don't even need last names. In reality, however, the band comprises three knuckleheads from New York City who got really really really lucky. At least that's what Huey says.
"For whatever reason, we've been on a paid vacation for almost two years. We're having a good time," he said. "We can't help it." Not all that long ago, Huey and his friend Fast were
schlepping ice at the Limelight club in NYC and writing songs on the side. Huey brought the blues-soaked guitar sound, Fast played bass, keyboards, trumpet and harmonica, and they got
their roommate, Steve, to play drums. "We weren't even looking for a record deal. We managed to get a demo to someone at Tommy
Boy, but they found out we're not black, and they didn't want to hear from us. So we gave up," Huey said. "We were goofing around. We played at the Limelight because we worked there. We
were the house band. Somebody cancelled and we got to play. The next thing we knew, Mike Schnapp and Davitt Sigerson [from EMI] came down and asked us if we wanted to make a
record. You can't say no to that, especially if you're carrying ice, which is like coal mining except you get crystal lung."
The trio couldn't stand living together, but they meshed nicely in the studio. By the time the bong smoke cleared, they had finished Come Find Yourself, an album that's so steeped in the
Big Apple, you can smell the subway. "The New York flavor comes up a lot," Huey said. "I was talking to some people in England and
they said buying the record was like getting a guided tour of New York without ever leaving your home. We had no idea that we were bringing the vibe of the city to the album. People in
England really seem to dig it, at least." The Criminals have struck a Robert DeNiro-type nerve in the UK. The British press seems
completely infatuated with the group and can't decide if they're dealing with "Taxi Driver's" Travis Bicle or the tragi-comic Rupert Pupkin from "The King of Comedy." "All that media
attention is really weird, but hey, it's free press. We get portrayed like we're movie characters or somethin' instead of te knuckleheads we are," Huey said.
During the group's UK tour earlier this year, Steve was playing the role of a true fun lovin' you-know-what. Steve has a somewhat notorious habit of making prank phone calls.
Unfortunately, the prank part was lost on the Leeds police, and Steve got into trouble after treating some ladies at a health spa to a vocabulary the cabbies back home would be proud of.
The Criminals have some UK and European festival dates on the horizon but apparently Steve's brush with the law hasn't caused them any visa problems.
"I think what they're going to do is make sure he has no communication tools whatsoever," Huey said. "I think they're going to cut his tongue out. They were going to cut his dialing finger off,
but Steve could probably learn to dial with another finger. He's tricky like that." The band is about to wrap up some support dates with U2, a gig Huey and his homies will be
marveling at for awhile. "It's one of those crazy rock 'n' roll kinda Spinal Tap things," he said. "The guys in the band and the people on the tour are really nice, and nobody's been throwing
things at us. We go out, do a little work and then we get to watch U2 for free. It's definitely something we'll tell our grandkids about."
Immediately following the U2 dates, the Criminals will be off to Europe, playing some major festivals including T In The Park in Glasgow and Tourhout Werchter in Belgium. The band has
become an increasingly popular festival draw overseas. Huey has no idea why, but the band absolutely digs on the scene. "Sign us up!" he said. "It's pretty much 40,000 people who don't
speak out language who are out to have a good time. Everybody gets along; there aren't any fights. It's kinda like Lollapolooza without Coke or Pepsi. It's about the people, not the product."
After Europe, the Criminals return to the States for a long tour with Live. Obviously, their agent, Sam Kirby at Artists & Audience, knows how to keep them busy, if not out of trouble.
"That's why we have a tour manager," said Huey. "It's easier to pay him good money to be the responsible adult than it would be for us to grow up."
They did make at least one grown-up decision in their career when they hired Jonathan Block as their manager. "Johnny was recommended to us by a friend of ours at the label. We didn't
have a manager when we got signed. We made the record and we still didn't have a manager. They were getting sick of seeing us at all the meetings. We met a whole bunch of dudes and
Johnny just seemed to be one of the fellas. Trust is important. He knows we'll kill him if he messes up," said Huey. "I'm kidding, really. We'd just break his legs." |
